Barks worse than bites? Russians to be fined if pooches bellow through the night

For people living in apartment blocks, there’s little worse than noisy neighbors. In Russia, new laws are set to expand police powers to keep the nighttime peace, including fines for those who don’t stop their dogs from barking.

The new version of the Code of Administrative Offenses would not only forbid actively making noise, such as playing loud music or doing repair work in the time between 11pm and 7am, but also punish inaction. That included letting a barking dog alone at home for a longer period of time, or not turning off a falsely triggered car alarm, TASS writes. 

At the moment, laws concerning nighttime noise are controlled by the government of each individual region, and the newly proposed law will unify rules across the nation.

Some have argued that the wording may cause problems, though, according to Vladimir Burmatov, the head of the State Duma Committee on Ecology and Environmental Protection. Sometimes animals just feel bad, he said, and there is little one can do about it.

The updated law is due to be introduced on January 1, 2021. So after that time, one would be well advised to keep the beloved canine safe and sound, and to fix the car alarm, in order to spare yourself a chat with disgruntled neighbors… and probably police officers.

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